Three Breakthroughs by Bawaslu Under the Leadership of Muhammad

When interrogated by members of the Special Team for the Selection Process of New Election Commission (KPU) Members, a candidate named Muhammad who is also the current Chairperson of the Election Monitoring Body (Bawaslu) explains three major breakthrough he made during his leadership in Bawaslu that has improved the quality of election management body in Indonesia. Those three breakthroughs are: one million volunteers for beginner voters, Gowaslu mobile application to report any electoral violation by the public, and ‘one overseer for every polling center’ initiative.

“All three programs have successfully reduce the number of electoral violations and increase the quality of our elections. Bawaslu also received government’s award for best state institution alongside with KPU,” says Muhammad during the interview process at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Central Jakarta (01/26).

Muhammad also specifies deficiencies in Bawaslu that need to be addressed. For example, Muhammad argues that members of Bawaslu need to enhance the institutional authority of Bawaslu. The current authority of Bawaslu is still weak, and, according to Muhammad, it hamper the process of electoral law enforcement. Members of Bawaslu should also improve the quality of their human resources by increasing the number of law faculty graduate in the institution.

“I recommend Bawaslu to increase the number of law faculty graduate so that they can conduct the law enforcement process better,” says Muhammad.

During the interview process, all candidates for Bawaslu members mention the issue regarding the poor quality of human resources in provincial Bawaslu. It seems the issue will be a priority for the future members of Bawaslu.